Alvin

Alvin sticks out his tongue when he is nervous

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

There's a New Top Dog in Town

If I had bet my entire bank account (which isn't impressive) on what just occurred, I would be bankrupt because I could have never predicted this one. I am sitting here still stunned and yet, thrilled.

I took Alvin and Stevie on their walk and we came across Moses at the park near my house. Moses is a large, male, black lab who is dog and person friendly. Moses and Alvin have had many interactions, with Moses getting quickly bored and Alvin and Stevie trying desperately to get his attention. Tonight, Alvin tried harder than usual to interact with him and chased after him. This in itself was remarkable and I was thrilled. I keep both dogs on leashes and ended up dragging poor Stevie along so we could keep up with Alvin's advances. I didn't want to discourage Alvin from trying to play. Like many things for Alvin, it kind of backfired because Moses then kept trying to hump Alvin. It became a scene with a lot of leash tangles. Alvin looked a bit afraid a couple of times because Moses just kept chasing and chasing him, but I didn't intervene because it's good for Alvin to run around and he seemed okay. But then the jaw dropping event occurred. Alvin turned and made a deep growl. You could have knocked me over. I crouched down to make sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing and sure enough, it was Alvin because he made several, very convincing growls and even some snarls. It was convincing enough that Moses kind of backed off. I was so proud of Alvin that I praised and praised him, but kept looking at him because I still couldn't comprehend what I just heard. Meanwhile, here came Stevie who LOVES Moses and promptly tried to hump him, and so we had a humping train going on.

We then walked home and I ran into some neighbors and I promptly told them all about it. The entire neighborhood is stunned. We are home now and Alvin and Stevie are revved up. It was terribly exciting for all three of us. Alvin needed a lot of reassurance from me. I am not sure if it was due to him being proud of himself or insecure, but I have been praising and petting him. I am like the mother of the child that gets beat up on the playground and finally wallops and knocks the bully flat. Moses isn't much of a bully but it still was quite a feat by Alvin. He is still huffing and puffing and should be very proud of himself. Who knew?

About Me

I am a volunteer foster parent for Camp Cocker Rescue (www.campcocker.com). I spent 13 years working with abused and neglected children in the foster care system and now enjoy applying some of my experience to working with abused and neglected animals.